The Trip Down


The original plan was to leave on Wednesday the 23rd but once we got up to go we chose to leave the Thursday instead and make the trip to Melbourne in two days rather than three. Our daughter and son-n-law were arriving home from a three week holiday on the Wednesday night so visiting them was the main reason to go Thursday. Don’t know why we did not think of it earlier or discuss it before, busy I suppose. Anyway it was good seeing them before we left and a great tonic for Linda who was not looking forward to going away from home for so long.

So we left on the Thursday morning getting away by 7.30am, not bad for us. We made it to Albury Showgrounds where we had planned to meet with Linda’s sister Jan and bro-n-law Ross. They had just got off the Spirit of Tasmania the day before, after having a three week holiday in Tazzie themselves. It was great seeing them and also getting some tips on where to go once we got over to Tazzie and some tips about the boat.

Before leaving the next morning we met Rod who had done up his old Chesney van. It is a beauty. He was also sailing on the Spirit of Tasmania on the Saturday morning with us. Rod is a Vietnam veteran and a nice fella. He suggested we drop in to Seymour north of Melbourne on our way down and check out the Vietnam memorial so we did. The people of Seymour have done a great job with it. It is particularly pleasing to see it as the Vietnam vets were treated so badly. While we were there Rod arrived in his van. We said goodbye knowing we would be seeing him again.









Had a quick look at an old gaol at Seymour while we were there.



We arrived at our destination of Donnybrook by late lunch time. It was a caravan storage place with no facilities but only cost $10. Not bad for being so close to Melbourne. As we had time we decided to take a test run without the van to make sure we found the right way to get to the pier to get the Spirit of Tasmania. I am so glad we did as the signage left a few things to be desired. It was stressful enough without the van. Sure enough we saw Rod again down at the pier. He was free camping in one of the streets leading up to the pier.

When we got back to camp there was another couple, Charlie and Erja (pronounced Erika), who were also catching the Spirit the next morning. They did not get the chance to do a test run so the next morning they followed us to the boat. The run in was so much more relaxed because of my test run and they appreciated being able to follow us in.

We found the process of going through the quarantine checkin and loading to go very smooth and the staff were pretty good. They checked my butane cannisters but as they had lids on them they let me keep them. That was one of the tips I got from Jan & Ross.






Looking back at Port Melbourne and the city.







Going through the heads at Port Phillip Bay.






The weather was very calm to our relief. We took sea sick tablets but I don’t know if we needed them as it was so calm. Better safe than sorry but.

The trip was really enjoyable as we had good company in Charlie and Erja. I turns out Erja is an author and she has written a thriller. The title is Chase the Dog, by Erja Scott, at amazon.com. (erjascott@gmail.com). We also chatted to Rod again on the boat.

Half way through the voyage we crossed paths with the Spirit of Tasmania sister ship. The atmosphere was very hazy.




It was good to see Devonport and then good to be on Tazzie soil. We have arrived and looking forward to the next 11 weeks.



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